TC Web Desk
The two recent events of the Ministry of Ayush in Gujarat avoided the use of more than 1 lakh plastic bottles, 15,000 plastic tags and 50,000 plastic cutleries, leading to an estimated reduction of 119437.5 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (Co2e).
The Prime Minister laid the foundation of the world’s first WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) during the ground-breaking ceremony held at Jamnagar on 19 April and inaugurated the three-day Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit (GAIIS) on 20 April. Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and Director General of the World Health Organisation Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus were present on the occasion.
To promote healthy and environment-friendly practices, the participants were provided with kits that included copper bottles for drinking water. Water dispensers were installed at convenient locations to complement these efforts. While talking about the arrangements, the organisers mentioned, “Environmental consciousness remained the core of decision making for organisation of the event such as avoiding the use of plastic flex banners and other such material with an objective to minimise carbon footprints.”
The event also featured creative exhibitions on environment-related issues and solutions. Interestingly, the exhibit on ‘Smart & Sustainable Ayush Factories for the Future’, showcased steps toward efficient waste disposal for a clean, green, and sustainable future and also demonstrated the way to live without plastic which is commonly taken as unavoidable and most convenient.
Talking about the exhibition and environmental initiatives, Anand Chordia, Founder, The Eco Factory Foundation, mentioned, “The exhibition is an effort to showcase various aspects of the problems and solutions related with environment including, different waste auditing and segregation processes and their effective management, grey water management and possible recycling, use of renewable source of energy, converting barren empty lands to biodiversity parks to retain or regain native flora and fauna, concept of green building, with an aim to achieve Net Zero by applying simple and replicable methods.”
It was estimated that if the carbon emission scenario is taken into account, it turns out that the three-day event succeeded in reducing the Co2e emission to the tunes of estimated 119437.5 kg considering footfall of 27000 in both the events combined.
